Holy Family School's Physical Education teacher Dianne Fiorina, also known as Miss F, will be retiring at the end of the school year after 47 years of teaching. Pictured is Miss F with some of her students during Holy Family's Spirit Week Sports Day. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — Dianne Fiorina, known to her students and fellow staff members as "Miss F," has announced her retirement after 47 years as Holy Family School's Physical Education teacher.

Fiorina said she has always loved sports, and she had teachers that inspired her to join the education field. After earning her degree she worked at the Chenango County Office for Aging, until former Holy Family gym teacher Tom Utter asked her if she was interested in a job at HFS, sparking her decades-long tenure at the school.

"Tom called me and asked if I was interested, and I said, Catholic school? Amen! Here I go. I am very interested," said Fiorina. "It's been good, I really enjoy the families here. It's such a close knit group that you become really close with some people."

In her time at the school, she has kept students active through creative and unique gym class activities, such as musical freeze tag, alphabet yoga, traditional sports like football and soccer, and lifetime sports.

"We do a little bit of everything. The next unit I’m in with the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders is Lifetime Sports. Until it gets really decent weather we’re going to stay in the gym and we’re doing table tennis, cornhole, can jam," she explained. "We’re going to try to get into some of the outdoor lifetime sports, like horseshoes, hopscotch, that kind of stuff, on the pavement. Badminton."

The classes also play games like "I See," where Fiorina will call out different actions on scenarios and the students must act them out.

"I might say ‘I see,’ and they say ‘what do you see?’ And I’ll say ‘a popsicle melting in the sun.’ So they have to try to show me with their body what a melting popsicle looks like," she said. "Today we’re going to take a trip to the jungle. Show me what you think a tiger would look like. What do you think a tiger would do? We can make it a day or it can turn into a unit. It just depends on where the kids are at too, socially, physically, hand eye coordination."

She also invented her own game, called Bleacher Ball, where students practice throwing and aiming skills.

"I've come up with some different things. We play bleacher ball," said Fiorina. "It’s good because they can work on throwing, and they can work on their accuracy. They’re not throwing balls at anybody, they’re trying to get the ball on the opposite bleacher and have it stick, stay, in the opposite bleacher, and you get a point for every time your team does that. But they enjoy it."

In addition to teaching physical education classes, Fiorina also created a Sustainability Club. This year's club is made up of seven groups, each focusing on a different project: a turkey giveaway, a bottle drive, a 5K health race, a March Madness free throw contest, selling baked goods, and an ice cream sundae giveaway.

The groups also work with the school to reuse and recycle whatever they can. Some materials are placed in designated bins for recycling, while others are given to the HFS art teacher to use in class. Ultimately, Fiorina said she wants her students to recognize that the things they do can have an impact on the world around them.

"We do stuff online and see all the different ways that we as little individuals can do some big things, or as individuals just do something simple and it spreads," she said. "The impact is what I want. I want them to see that they're a part of something a little bigger."

The annual Olympic Day at Holy Family School is another area where Fiorina plays a huge role. Students in first through sixth grade are bussed down to the Norwich High School track on the Thursday before the last week of school, where they compete in various track and field events.

"We go down to the high school track, the Norwich High School track, and we have different teams and they’re different colors," said Fiorina. "We have six teams, and they do all different kinds of track and field events. We spend the day down there. We actually march in to the Olympic music, and the choir actually sings."

"I have to say, if it wasn’t for the parents we couldn’t do it. Because they are my timers, they’re my scorers, they do the Olympic Day ribbons. They do all of that for me, and if I didn’t have them we couldn’t do it," she added. "There’s so much activity going on, and to see these little kids, these first graders who are cheering on the big kids, you see there’s still good in the world. There’s still hope and promise."

This school year marks Fiorina's last Olympic Day event. After her retirement is official, she plans to move down to Florida for the warm weather, baseball stadiums, and new experiences.

"I mean, there will be tears, there’s no question about it. I can be very emotional or I can be very stoic, but emotional will be a part of that for sure," she said. "I'm actually moving to Florida at the end of the year or first part of next year."

Although she had been thinking about making a change, Fiorina said she didn't make the decision to retire until a staff meeting, where she was suddenly struck with the realization that it was the right time.

"At a faculty meeting I was sitting and listening, and talking back and forth and stuff, and then Mr. Sorci says, is there anything anybody wants to bring up? And it was like God said to me, it’s time. And I raised my hand and I said, this year will be my last Olympic Year," Fiorina explained. "I hadn’t really planned for that moment but there was something, whether it be the Holy Spirit that was giving me that little nudge. But that’s the way it was, that’s how it happened."

Despite her spontaneous decision, Fiorina has no regrets and is nothing but excited for the move.

"Am I going to miss things? Absolutely. Am I going to miss the faculty? Am I going to miss the kids? Absolutely. But the way technology is now, there’s no reason I can’t FaceTime people on and off and let them know what I’m doing, and then I want to know what they’re doing," Fiorina said. "I feel in my heart it's absolutely the right thing, and I am just going to enjoy my next big adventure."

Fiorina will also have the opportunity to use the newly renovated gymnasium before she leaves. The gym is anticipated to be finished in April, and Holy Family School is naming its new basketball court in her honor.

Her last day is in June, but Fiorina said she plans to stick around a bit longer to attend Holy Family's Centennial Celebration in the fall, and work a little more with the Sustainability Club. After that, she'll be off on her next adventure.

"I just want everybody to know my heart is going to be here, as well as in Florida. But I want them to remember me," she said, and added how important the children and parents of Holy Family School have been to her. "I could bring in any child and we could talk about how they are special to me, because they’re all unique ... I want the parents to know I’ve enjoyed my stay here, and I want to thank them because they made it special. So just a big thank you."